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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the latest in the series of movies based on the popular books by J.K. Rowling, stars an absolutely ridiculous number of Our Guys. Thus, I was compelled to see it as soon as humanly possible after its release. After the Debacle that was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I wasn’t expecting much. Hearing that it was terrible from a friend didn’t make me feel better.

Well, my friend is an idiot. It was fantastic, by far the best of the Harry Potter movies to date. All the kids were good, although there was not enough of Cute Bad Kid Tom Felton, but then, there never is. Also not nearly enough of Hot Bad Guys Alan Rickman or Jason Isaacs, but you can tell they’re building up to something there. And poor Cool Bad Guy Gary Oldman was barely seen, but we all know to expect Great Things from him in the next one.

Here’s the short story: the Wizarding World has decided to restart the Tri Wizard Tournament, a competition between Our Beloved Hogwarts, the French School, Beauxbatons, and the Vaguely Eastern European School, Durmstrang. There’s supposed to be one champion per school, a student over the age of 17. But when they’re chosen, Harry Potter ends up in the mix. Disaster! So, there are these tasks and Harry does pretty well. In the last task, he and fellow Hogwarts student, the yummy (and totally over 18) Cedric Diggory, tie to get the Tri Wizard Cup. But the Cup is a portkey, which transports them to the Scariest Graveyard Ever to assist in the revival of the Dark Lord. Way Creepy, thanks Kids’ Movie!

Voldemort, played by the almost unrecognizable Hot Bad Guy Ralph Fiennes, forces Harry to duel. Alas, it doesn’t work out quite the way he imagined and Harry is returned to Hogwarts. Cedric, not so much.

Were there changes from the book? Absolutely. Some, I mourned, but really. It was a 734 page book that they turned into a two and a half hour movie. Obviously, some of the stuff had to go and I don’t really feel the movie suffered for it. My only complaint? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix isn’t scheduled for release until 2007.